The USGA has released the names of the remaining five members of the 2013 U.S. Walker Cup side.

In July, Patrick Rodgers, Cory Whitsett, Max Homa, Michael Kim and Justin Thomas were named to the team. On Sunday, immediately following the championship match of the U.S. Amateur, the USGA selection committee announced that Bobby Wyatt, Jordan Niebrugge, Michael Weaver, Todd White and Nathan Smith would also represent the USA at National Golf Links of America next month.

The event will be played against defending-champion Great Britain and Ireland in September.

Michael Weaver.

If there is a sense of familiarity among team members, it’s not by chance. Whitsett, Thomas and Wyatt starred for NCAA Division 1 champion Alabama Crimson Tide while Homa, Kim and Weaver made up the core of the University of California Bears, ranked No. 1 until a semifinal loss to the University of Illinois at the national championship. Rodgers completed his second year at Stanford and has been on fire this summer, highlighted by a tie for 15th in the PGA Tour’s John Deere Classic.

If any golfer might justifiably be compared with Rodgers, it is Jordan Niebrugge. The rising sophomore at Oklahoma State University was on no one’s radar screen until he defeated Walker Cup teammate Michael Kim in the championship match of the USGA National Public Links championship. Niebrugge followed that feat up with a victory in his home-state Wisconsin amateur, but no one was prepared for his next conquest.

In arguably the most demanding amateur event of all, Niebrugge marched to the final match of the Western Amateur at the Alotian Club, where he defeated Sean Dale for the title. Niebrugge also survived stroke-play qualifying at the U.S. Amateur to advance to match play, but was defeated in the first round.

Nathan Smith.

Rounding out the team are two mid-amateurs, Nathan Smith and Todd White. In January of this year, the USGA announced an initiative to provide elder statesmen a place in this international competition. The selection committee revealed that a minimum of two career amateurs would be named to the team. Back in the 1980s, the salad days for the mid-amateurs, Jay Sigel, Bob Lewis and others (including this year’s team captain, James Holtgrieve) routinely made the team. In recent years, though, the collegiate player has dominated summer competition, leaving a veteran presence lacking on the team.

Nathan Smith of Pennsylvania is a four-time and defending USGA Mid-Amateur champion. He participated on the victorious 2009 U.S. team at Merion Golf Club (Philadelphia) and also on the 2011 team that lost a close match at Royal Aberdeen in Scotland. Joining him on the squad is Todd White, from South Carolina. White placed fifth at the Northeast Amateur in June and played a full schedule this year. He will participate in his first Walker Cup next month.

Todd White.

Despite the poor showing of U.S. players at this year’s U.S. Amateur at The Country Club near Boston (coupled with the victory there of Englishman Matthew Fitzpatrick, one of ten selections for the Great Britain and Ireland side) Team USA will certainly be installed as a favorite in Southampton (NY) in September. Given the site (where the first Walker Cup was contested in 1922) and the strength of the teams, the 2013 Walker Cup should be hotly contested and a massive success story for the amateur game.

The ten members of the Great Britain and Ireland team include seven Englishmen (Fitzpatrick, Nathan Kimsey, Max Orrin, Garrick Porteous, Neil Raymond, Callum Shinkwin, and Jordan Smith), Gavin Moynihan and Kevin Phelan from Ireland and Rhys Pugh of Wales. Seven of the 10 are age 20 or younger and Raymond is the lone mid-amateur on the squad. The team will be led by captain Nigel Edwards of Wales.